“Your brain runs on electricity. And, like electrical wires, your nervous system needs insulation. These nerves are covered by an insulating sheath called myelin that is vital to the normal functioning of our nervous system,” Dr Fletcher said.

“But for those people affected by diseases like MS, this insulating myelin is destroyed by the immune system – leading to significant nerve dysfunction as well as slowed or blocked nerve conduction between the brain and the rest of the body.”

Dr Fletcher said the team successfully used a synthetic compound to stimulate a receptor pathway to promote remyelination in the brain.

“There’s nothing currently available to help with myelin sheath repair. The beauty of what our team has done is taken what naturally occurs in healthy cells and used that to manipulate a similar response in damaged cells,” she said.

“It’s very basic foundation research to show that this idea can work.”

Dr Fletcher said this was early-stage research and any medical application to the discovery would be a long way off.

Rates of blindness and vision loss among Indigenous Australians continue to improve significantly, seven years after University of Melbourne ophthalmologist Hugh Taylor started his plan to tackle Indigenous eye health.

Australia’s most common sexually transmitted infection, chlamydia, is unlikely to be eliminated by opportunistic testing in general practice, a landmark trial has revealed, with researchers recommending greater emphasis on improving chlamydia management.

Two studies from a landmark 20-year Melbourne research project have shed more light on how the brain ages and what can affect the process. The results have led experts to encourage women to watch their cholesterol and blood pressure.

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Human rights and international law expert Professor Hilary Charlesworth, says that Australia's appointment to the UN Human Rights Council gives the country an opportunity to examine its own human rights record.